Stafford County, VA Outdoor Lighting: Billboard Lighting (2026)

Stafford County's code does not carry a section written specifically for billboards. The provision that governs lighting aimed at a sign is Stafford County Code § 28-87(g), the architectural and landscape lighting standard, which by its own terms covers lighting used to illuminate statues, flags, signs, or other objects mounted on a pole, platform, or pedestal, as well as spotlighting or floodlighting used for architectural or landscape purposes. Under subsection (g)(1), any such fixture must be full cut-off and directionally shielded, and it must be designed, aimed and controlled so the directed light stays confined to the object it is meant to illuminate, in this case the sign face, rather than spilling onto the surrounding area.

Directional shields are required to limit stray light and cut down glare, skyglow and light trespass. Subsection (g)(2) adds two further limits: the light can't shine directly into the window of a residence or directly onto a roadway, and any fixture attached to a building must be aimed downward rather than up at the sign. Because this is the general architectural and landscape lighting rule rather than a billboard-specific ordinance, a sign lit under it still has to clear the county's general five-tenths-footcandle limit at any residential or agricultural property line under § 28-87(c)(6), and any new or replaced sign lighting fixture must otherwise meet the full cut-off, fully shielded baseline in § 28-87(c)(2) unless it qualifies for the architectural-lighting exemption.